Centuries Ago Speak Today Part 4

More from the Imitation of Christ.

I often lament and grieve over my unhappiness; for many evils befall me in this valley of miseries, often disturbing me, making me sad, often hindering and distracting me, alluring and entangling me so that I neither have free access to You nor can enjoy the sweet embraces which You have ever reading for blessed souls. Let my sighs and the desolation of earth move You, Lord.

Restrain my wandering thoughts and suppress the temptations which attack me so violently. Fight strongly for me, and conquer these evil beasts (the desires of the flesh) so that peace may come through Your power, so that the fullness of Your praise may resound in a holy place, that is, a pure conscience.

Everyone desires peace, but not everyone cares for the things that go to make true peace.

Do not think, therefore, that you have found true peace if you feel no depression, or that all is well because you suffer no opposition. Do not think that all is perfect if everything happens just as you wish.

The question is asked, on what does peace depend upon?... It consists in offering yourself with all your heart to the divine Will, not seeking your own way either in small or in great matters, either in temporal or eternal things, so that you will continue to give the same thanks to God whether in adversity or prosperity, by seeking all things in their proper light.

Lord, one who desires perfection must make it his first task to keep his mind at all times set on heavenly things.

Preserve me, too, from the many necessities of the body, lest I become ensnared by carnal pleasures.

Even eating, drinking, clothing, and the other necessities of the body are burdensome to the fervent soul. (here is one of many examples in the book that makes your ears perk up. I don't think the statements necessarily imply that Kempis is going so far to say that the material realm or the body is bad, but it certainly seems to suggest that the body is annoying, "burdensome," and gets in the way of spiritual pursuits. Maybe he takes it more extreme in other places, but here it seems to be more tame. Nonetheless, I must admit that I am curious about Christian mystic views of the material and other even more extreme positions that speak of the toil and labor in this realm and not so kind assessments of this physical state. Obviously no one wants to slip into the extreme of the good/spiritual/immaterial vs bad/physical/material distinction and be an out and out heretic. Oh, the heavens and earth the Lord created in the beginning were certainly good as Genesis 1 echoes again and again, but what are the fall effects of the fall? Certainly, even today many would agree experientially that daily physical hardships leaves the soul weary.)

My child, you should give all for all, and be as nothing to yourself. Know that self-love harms you more than anything else in the world.

It is no help, therefore, to multiply external possessions: far better to be indifferent to them and to eradicate the very desire for them from your heart.

Position in life contributes little if the spirit of fervor is missing.

And who is more free than one who desires nothing on earth?

And unless one is set free from all created things one cannot freely attend to divine things. That is why so few men of contemplation are to be found, because few know how to hide themselves from created things which perish eventually.

There is a vast difference between wisdom of a devout, enlightened man and the knowledge of a well-read man.

Many are eager for the contemplative life, but they do not try to practice what is necessary for it. One great obstacle is that they rely on feelings, and care little about denying self.

Hold fast to this brief, concise proverb: "Lose all and you will find all; stop seeking and you will find rest."

Child, trust not your feeling of the moment; it will quickly change into another. As long as you live you are subject to change even against your will, so that at one time you find yourself happy, at another said; at one time calm, at another disturbed; now devout, then lukewarm; now fervent, then lackadaisical; now serious, later light-headed. But the one learned of spirit is above these things, not caring about his feelings, or from where the wind of fickleness blows, but only that his entire purpose is directed to the right and wished-for goal.